I’m going to be black all of my life. Proud of it. I don’t have a choice… Gays have choices.
When I heard people say this bill is about people who are being discriminated against like blacks were in the ‘40s and ‘50s with Jim Crow, it’s not true folks. I never saw a water fountain that said ‘Gays only.’ I never saw a restaurant refuse somebody for a meal because they were gay.”
Former Republican Colorado State Sen. Ed Jones, speaking against the state’s proposed civil-unions bill, at a rally in Denver. The bill is expected to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate and House.
Source: Denver Post
Taliaferro
Well, one can choose to be ignorant and bigoted and Jones has chosen both. Racial discrimination is immoral and illegal. While it is true that the color of one’s skin cannot be changed, neither can one’s sexual orientation, regardless of what the right wing bigots say. I have been thrown out of restaurants because I was gay, I have lost jobs because I was gay. Oh, the the bathrooms and water fountains doe not specify that they were for gays but for whites. If one follows his analogy, they should have read “Blachs Only.” While signs were posted, “White,” and “Colored,” a white person could choose to use either but the black person could not. Colorado did well to give this man his walking papers.
1EqualityUSA
There are some whose identity is tied so closely to their religion that their chosen identity is protected. Then there are some, born with orientations, who manifest identities that are dismissed by bigots, such as former Republican Senator Ed Jones. How is it that chosen religious identities, even late in life, are more protected than identities brought about by orientations we were born with? Ignorant people are still saying that being gay is a choice.
Captain proton
Michael Jackson proves him wrong.
searchcz
I guess this fool has never seen a Denny’s, or a Cracker Barrel then. (both places where gays have been denied service)
1EqualityUSA
So I suppose he is saying we have a choice to stay closeted and lie about who we really are…like he did?
2eo
Shame he won’t take the only right choice.
Sterilise his family and kill himself.
Michael
If he has never seen something, it couldn’t possibly have happened. It is unfortunate for just about every other African American that this dipshit will be “black all of [his] life.”
Scribe38
@searchcz: To be fair to the A##hole so have blacks. This guy is a joke. I’m black and I have heard this arguement before. Driving down the street at night pulled over by a cop, you cannot pretend that you are not black, if your gay you can wing it. My answer to such arguements is the problem I had being raised. If I had told my parents someone at school had called me the n-word they and the rest of the world would have come to my defense. Repeatly I was called queer and worst, but there was no support group no real community at the time to protect me. Is being gay the same thing as as being black, no its not. Being black and gay are different sides of the minority coin, but both groups have been screwed over my the majority and neither side should be picking on the other.
Dakotahgeo
This ignorant faux black is why the Repug/TPod/conservies are going down the tubes… but fassst!!! Good riddance. They will just never learn!
1EqualityUSA
No, The Repugs will just redistrict themselves into the Casa Blanca. Cheaters and hypocrites.
Rockery
He is an idiot. Is he suggesting that gay people should take advantage of the fact that its possible to somewhat conceal your sexual orientation and live in the perpetual state of “passing”, staying closeted, lying, dropping your partners hand in public? That sounds like a great solution… like that won’t cause mental emotional issues and then (possibly) lead to health issues as a result
I’m not negating the fact that a segment of black people, black males in particular, live in this constant state of heightened stress for other reasons, but everyone should be free and happy, not the other way around..
startenout
So, speaking as a black man and a gay man, neither were my choice and I have been discriminated against for both things. This man is an idiot.
I never saw black funerals picketed with signs saying we should go to hell and that AIDS was God’s reaction to the existence of black families. The discrimination may be different, but it sure as hell is the only thing that;s equal right now.
startenout
So, speaking as a black man and a gay man, neither were my choice and I have been discriminated against for both things. This man is an idiot.
I never saw black funerals picketed with signs saying we should go to hell and that AIDS was God’s reaction to the existence of black families. The discrimination may be different, but it sure as hell is the only thing that’s equal right now.
Avenger
He is right. Black people don’t have a closet to hide in when they feel like it.
startenout
@Avenger: Actually, many light skinned black people who were considered black under the law (like both my parents) were fair enough to “pass” for white and “stay in the closet” to get better jobs, educations and lives than their obvious counterparts. Some did (that’s the story of the musical ShowBoat from 1927, in fact); I am proud mine didn’t.
I personally am too dark to fly under that race radar, just like my underbite that makes me lisp (years of speech therapy and the final verdict was drastic oral surgery, so we didn’t) plus my naturally high speaking voice (I’m a professional tenor and voice teacher) make it impossible for me to “pass” in a straight world.
The worst part of the discrimination and bullying against gays is that it isn’t about whether you are or aren’t gay, it’s about how you’re perceived. So by your definition, the straight guy who is a great performer should stay in the closet about loving what he’s good at to avoid harassment and gay people shouldn’t push against the discrimination of not being allowed to publicly marry their loved one because its better to hide?
Hello, self-loathing homophobia. How are you this morning?
Charli Girl
THIs MO RON should consult an AFRICAN AMERICAN gay female OR male
But …really?does it even matter what this MO RON thinks? Even with the gerrymandering
the repugs ARE exposed and ARE AND WILLCONTINUE TO LOSE EVERYTHING!
so justice is served and this nobody ,no count,has been,
..has ZERO effect
BA BYE,ADIOS BIGOT…U NO LONGER MATTER
Chad Hunt
It is always so strange to me how a group that has clearly been discriminated against in the past can ever deny the facts of another groups equal suffering. Yes, it is true there has never been any “Whites Only” fountains, bus seats, or bathrooms, to discriminate against homosexuals but there has been plenty of, “Str8’s Only” marriage laws, military service, employment, housing, adoptions, blood donating, etc. Saying he can’t change the color of his skin but i can choose my sexuality is ignorant. First of all, he can change the color of his skin in todays day and age but regardless of this fact a homosexual can not change their sexuality. Even if a homosexual chooses to marry a woman and impregnates her it does not change the fact that he is still a homosexual on the inside who just outwardly changed his appearance. Just as a black man who has had his skin lightened on the outside can not change how he was born or his identity on the inside. Blacks have surely not faced the religious persecution that gays have. All religions include african americans but almost all religions persecute homosexuals.
You hardly ever hear of a black teenager killing themselves because they are black. I know from personal experience at school when I was young if we would have ever called a black student “Nigger” or “Porch Monkey” we would have immediately been suspended but when I reported kids who called me “Fag” or “Fairy” or Queer nothing happened except for my teachers and principals to tell me i should try to get a girlfriend or act more masculine and wear less gay clothes.
Homosexuals may have never as a group been targeted for slavery but lets not forget there is just as long of periods in history of white slavery. How many countries today will kill you for being a convicted homosexual but none will kill you for being black. How many countries will imprison u for being homosexual but none will for being black.
In short this moron really needs to learn his facts. Homosexuals have suffered equally alongside blacks and women throughout history.
Aaron
If a black person is denied service or fired from a job, they can sue, and they will win in every state. If a gay person is denied service or fired from a job, the facility will cite “religious freedom” and have no repercussions, in many, if not most states. Jones is right, it’s completely different.